[William Peter Grasso]

What sound did the windshield wipers on an American-built car in the late 1950s make? If you weren't alive then, that's cool...use your imagination. Just imagine them as being less smooth in operation than contemporary wiper systems.

The best I can come up with at the moment is swish-thump--swish-thump. But of course, I'm a bit impaired this morning. I accidentally rubbed Ben-Gay in my eye (a heretofore unseen peril of senior citizenship). I'll recover, but I haven't felt burning like that since my last facefull of airplane hydraulic fluid.

WPG

 

[JeanneM]

Hi,

I just found this site that allows you to play soundbites from all kinds of windshield wipers. Hope hearing them helps with the description. http://www.hark.com/collections/nzwmvjghdg-wiper

 

[William Peter Grasso]

Hi,

I just found this site that allows you to play soundbites from all kinds of windshield wipers. Hope hearing them helps with the description. http://www.hark.com/collections/nzwmvjghdg-wiper

Thanks, Jeanne! One of those tracks comes pretty close to what I remember...I still can't get the verbal portrayal quite right. Swish is probably more like sweesh, but the sound at the end of the stroke is so much more than a simple thump...

WPG

 

[JeanneM]

How about swish-kaflump?  That's what they always sound like to me.  LOL  But then I'm really fond of making up silly words. 

 

[Lynn McNamee]

The best I can come up with at the moment is swish-thump--swish-thump. But of course, I'm a bit impaired this morning. I accidentally rubbed Ben-Gay in my eye (a heretofore unseen peril of senior citizenship). I'll recover, but I haven't felt burning like that since my last facefull of airplane hydraulic fluid.

This made me recall a humorous incident with my ex-hubby from when I was in the Army. I don't think it would be appropriate to describe it here, though.

Suffice it to say, be sure you have washed your hands after applying Ben-Gay, especially if you are planning on having an "intimate moment."

 

[William Peter Grasso]

This made me recall a humorous incident with my ex-hubby from when I was in the Army. I don't think it would be appropriate to describe it here, though.

Suffice it to say, be sure you have washed your hands after applying Ben-Gay, especially if you are planning on having an "intimate moment."

Intimate moment?? You did get the senior citizen part, right?

 

[Lynn McNamee]

Intimate moment?? You did get the senior citizen part, right?

I didn't mean you when I used that phrase.

I was referring to the humorous story that I recalled involving my ex-hubby, although, he wasn't "ex" at the time.

Besides, senior citizens can have "intimiate moments," too. It's good advice for all.

 

[William Peter Grasso]

Besides, senior citizens can have "intimiate moments," too. It's good advice for all.

I'll try my darnedest to keep that in mind, Red

 

[JeanneM]

This made me recall a humorous incident with my ex-hubby from when I was in the Army. I don't think it would be appropriate to describe it here, though.

Suffice it to say, be sure you have washed your hands after applying Ben-Gay, especially if you are planning on having an "intimate moment."

ROF!! Words to live by.

 

[RobynB]

This made me recall a humorous incident with my ex-hubby from when I was in the Army. I don't think it would be appropriate to describe it here, though.

Suffice it to say, be sure you have washed your hands after applying Ben-Gay, especially if you are planning on having an "intimate moment."

Okay, I just spewed water all over my monitor. Thanks for that.

And let me just say this: it's unfortunate that tubes of Monistat so closely resemble toothpaste tubes. (Don't ask. I'm not telling.)

As for the question at hand, I kinda like Jeanne's "swish-kaflump," which is, sadly, a good description for my last relationship.

 

[JeanneM]

Okay, I just spewed water all over my monitor. Thanks for that.

And let me just say this: it's unfortunate that tubes of Monistat so closely resemble toothpaste tubes. (Don't ask. I'm not telling.)

As for the question at hand, I kinda like Jeanne's "swish-kaflump," which is, sadly, a good description for my last relationship.

LOL to both!

 

[D.A. Boulter]

This made me recall a humorous incident with my ex-hubby from when I was in the Army. I don't think it would be appropriate to describe it here, though.

Suffice it to say, be sure you have washed your hands after applying Ben-Gay, especially if you are planning on having an "intimate moment."

Reminds me of the time I injured my thigh muscles and put some liniment on before going to bed. Woke up to . . . uh . . . a Jerry Lee Lewis song. Goodness, gracious, first and last time I ever made a mistake like that.

 

[Alex Owens]

You guys are cracking me up! Hubby just hollered ( yes, he's from the south and they do holler) "What are you in there cackeling about?"

Back to the topic at hand, I've got nothing to add other than the title of a rerun I just caught on Tv of CSI Las Vegas - Squee-gall.

 

[William Peter Grasso]

Yes! Enough with the burning private parts! Back to the topic at hand...please!

As to the sound of windshield wipers, I read the chapter in question to a peer group last night (many of whom were, like me, old enough to have ridden in a late '50s car) and received little in the way of comment on the use of swish-thump. Perhaps it helped that that sound is later blended with the sound of a bed's headboard rhythmically striking a wall in a character's sex daydream while driving in the rain...That got a big, positive response.

WPG